Safety coupling for stirrups



Jan. 9, 1951 E, HRA AL 2,537,532

SAFETY COUPLING FOR STIRRUPS Filed April 14, 1948 Ed-u 0rd Hraba/Patented Jan. 9, 1951 SAFETYCOUPLING FOR STIRRUPS Eduard Hrabal,Washington, D. 0., assignor of thirty-five per cent to Rafael Dominguez,

7 Washington, D. C.

Application April 14, 1948, Serial No. 20,956

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a safety coupling for a stirrup and has forits primary object to disengage a stirrup from its suspension strap whenthe weight of the user is shifted as by falling.

Another object is to avoid injury to a horseman through being draggedwith his foot caught in the stirrup.

The above and other objects may be attained by employing this inventionwhich. embodies among its features a pair of jaws pivoted together atone end, suspension means at the pivoted ends of the jaws, yieldingmeans to hold the jaws closed, interdigitating pins carried by the jawsremote from the pivoted ends thereof, a stirrup, a suspension plate onsaid stirrup and said suspension plate having openings therein forreceiving the pins and supporting the stirrup on the coupling when thejaws are closed and the pins are in interdigitating relation.

Other features include latch means carried by the stirrup positivel tohold the jaws closed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a stirrup and safety couplingtherefore showing the parts assembled and ready for use;

Figure 2 is an end view in elevation of the stirrup shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the suspension means inthe act of releasing the stirrup;

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along theline 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line5-5 of Figure 2, and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the latch.

Referring to the drawings in detail a stirrup iii is equipped with aconventional .foot rest l2 and arch shaped yoke H! which serves as thesuspension means for the foot rest l2, as in a conventional stirrup.Projecting upwardly from the top of the arch I4 is a suspension plate l6which as illustrated in Figure 4 is provided with a row of openings l8for the reception of the interdigitating suspension pins to be mor fullyhereinafter described.

Pivotally connected together at one end as at 20 is a pair of jaws 22forming a part of the safety coupling of the stirrup. The ends of thejaws 22 remote from the pivot 20 are cut away as at 24, and are providedwith spaced transversely extending openings 26 in which interdigitatingpins 28 are fixed. As shown in Figure 3 the pins extend toward oneanother beyond the cut away portions 24 of the jaws 22, and when thejaws are closed, these pins lie in interdigitating rela- Y tion asillustrated in Figure 4. Extending around the pivoted ends of the jaws20 is a U-shaped spring 30 which is adapted yieldingly to hold the jawsin closed position with the pins 28 in interdigitating relation. Asuitable strap receivin eye 32'is coupled to the pivot 20 for thereception of a conventional stirrup strap by which the stirrup issuspended from a conventional saddle.

Pivotally coupled as at 34 to the arch Id of the stirrup 10 adjacent thesuspension plate l6 thereof is a latch designated generally 36 whichcomprises a U-shaped body 38, opposite legs 40 of which are adapted whenthe latch is in latched position as shown in Figures 1 and 2 to overliethe lower ends of the opposite jaws 22 in order to prevent them frommoving about their pivot 20 and carrying the pins out of interdigitatingrelation.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention the pins 28 are provided intheir upper sides with notches 42 which when the pins are ininterdigitating relation are adapted to align, and formed on thesuspension plate I B and extending through the openings l8 therein arelugs M which are adapted to engage in the notches to cooperate therewithin forming surfaces about which the suspension plate l6 may rockrelative to the jaws.

In use the coupling is suspended from a conventional saddle strap bypassing the strap through the eye 32 and spreading the jaws 22 to insertthe suspension plate N; in place between the cut away portions 24 of thejaws. Upon releasing the force holding the jaws open, the spring 3|]will cause the ends of the jaws remote from the pivoted ends toapproachone another and move the pins 28 into interdigitating relationwithin the openings 15 of the plate [6. In this position the bottomedges of the lugs 44 will seat in the notches 42 to facilitate a slightrocking movement of the stirrup Hlrelative to the suspension means. Withthe latch 36 thrown into the position illustrated in Figure 3, it willbe obvious that the legs so thereof will be out of engagement with thejaws 22, thus allowing the device to function in a normal manner so thatwhen the rider becomes overbalanced and his weight changes relative tothe stirrup and coupling, the stirrup may rock as suggested in Figure 3and force the jaws to open against the the rider so desire however it isevident that by moving the latch 36 into the position illustrated inFigures 1 and 2, the jaws will be held against opening.

While in the foregoin there has been shown and described the preferredembodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changesin the details of construction and arragement of parts may be resortedto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asclaimed.

Having described the invention, whatis claimed as new is:

A safety stirrup comprising a pair of jaws pivoted together at theirupper ends, means at the pivoted ends for suspending the jaws on astrap, yielding means to hold the jaws closed, interdigitating pinscarried at the lower end of said jaws and including notches in theirupper surfaces, a suspension plate on said stirrup extending between thelower end of said jaws, said plate including apertures for receivingsaid pins and detents in said plate extending into said aperturesadapted to engage said notches on said pins, and latch means pivoted tosaid stirrup selectively to hold the jaws closed.

EDUARD I-IRABAL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 196,900 Hollingsworth Nov. 6,1877 350,144 Lerchen Oct. 5, 1886 897,974 Fuchs Sept. 8, 1908 151,087,762 Harms Feb. 17, 1914 1,102,762 Korittke July 7, 1914 2,449.;251Rogoff Sept. 14, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 20 Number Country Date 13,046Great Britain Sept. 2, 1909 of 1909

